It makes sense if you squint and cock your head to the side. The Foundation couldn't have remained secret for as long as it did without some kind of anomalous assistance. Maybe 055 was the narrative anchor of that concept in this iteration of the Foundationverse.

This is very good, but I couldn't help feel like it was tied to the Foundationverse in the most tenuous of ways, mostly mentions of the Ways and the Scarlet King. If I hadn't known about those, I'd be wondering if I wasn't reading original fiction.

Yep. It's basically what I credit for the reason that the Foundation has managed to last as long as it has, and I generally characterize it as this: if a man kills a man in the street, it's all over the news. If a monster kills 50 men, no one will notice, save maybe a crazy guy on the street corner and the people who have written themselves into knowing.

As for the rest, I have a rather broad view of what constitutes the Foundationverse, in that the Foundation is a minimal, and relatively unimportant aspect of it.